There are several time-consuming steps in reloading cases reclaimed from spent ammunition cartridges. The first step is to gather reloadable cases. If the reloader chooses to clean said cases, they are usually processed in wet or dry tumbling media, then separated from the media. There are several existing inventions for media separation; those inventions do not always remove all the media completely. A common method for separating wet media (common wet media is stainless steel pins tumbled with the cases) is to place the cases and media in a colander, and manually mix the cases while rinsing until most of the media falls through the colander holes, leaving the cases in the colander. Still some media often remains in the cases and the reloader must check them individually to ensure there are no pins remaining in the cases.
After the wet cases have been removed from the colander, they must be dried. If the reloader has time, the cases are commonly set on towels to dry overnight or longer. If time is short, the reloader will place the cases on a cookie sheet in an oven to accelerate the drying process; the cases dry faster if they have space between them for air to flow. Another method is to spread out the cases on a food dehydrator tray and use the dehydrator's warm airflow to dry the cases.
The next step is to lube the outside of the cases in preparation for insertion into a resizing die within a reloading machine. If spray lube is used, a common technique is to manually and individually stand the cases upright and spray the sides of the cases from opposing directions to ensure good coverage. There are several existing inventions which provide pockets for cases to be spaced in an orderly fashion standing upright, but these inventions do not provide a means by which the cases may be automatically organized—the cases must still be manually placed in the pockets. At a time of the reloader's choosing within the entire process, the cases are also inspected for abnormalities. This is often done during the cleaning, drying, or lubing process, concurrently with those manual processes.
Some reloaders prefer to charge cases with gunpowder while they are standing upright, as opposed to being charged as part of a reloading machine process. Reloaders will often purchase an existing invention called a loading block, or build their own loading block, for this purpose of filling the cases as part of an organized, systematic process. A loading block is an array of equally spaced bores which requires the reloader to manually stand the cases upright individually in each bore. For the forgoing reasons, there is a need to have an invention which saves time and effort throughout the reloading process by automatically organizing, orienting and placing cases.